Anderson sets new record at Para Athletics

Corey Anderson has won gold for Australia at the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai. Credit: EPA

Australia has a rising star in newly crowned world javelin champion Corey Anderson, who unleashed a record-breaking throw at the World Para Athletics Championships.

The 19-year-old silenced the rest of the competition and improved his own 55.14-metre world mark laid down at the national championships in Sydney last April with a 56.28m hurl in the men's javelin (F38) final in Dubai.

"I feel so confident now. My confidence level has gone from zero to 100," Anderson said after Saturday night's effort.

"I think I can do a lot of things now. I'm a bit of a showman so I want to keep this feeling going."

Anderson's gold moved Australia into seventh on the overall medal table, with two golds and a silver after three days of competition.

Anderson's teammate Jayden Sawyer finished in fifth place with a 49.42m throw while fellow Australian Cam Crombie finished 7th with a 45.87.

Doha 2015 shot put world champion Todd Hodgetts struggled to hit his straps in his pet event, managing only a ninth place in the men's final (F20) with a 14.88m throw, below his season's best 14.53m.

"I couldn't quite get a good grip on the shot put," Hodgetts said.

"I'm okay and I'm feeling great physically. I'm just disappointed."

In the track finals, Tamsin Colley set a personal best of 31.77s in her 200m (T36) morning heat to book herself a spot in her first major final.

Colley had the backing of Olympic champion Sally Pearson, who sent the 17-year-old cerebral palsy athlete some encouraging "Go Girl!" messages on social media before the race.

Angie Ballard ran sixth in the 400m (T53) final with a time of 1:01.86, backing up from another sixth in Friday night's 100m final.

Eliza Ault-Connell followed up 5th in her 100m (T54) final with a 4th in Saturday's 800m final.